“Are coral reefs growing from the depths of the oceans? ... [The] reply is a simple negative; and a single fact establishes its truth. The reef-forming coral zoophytes, as has been shown, cannot grow at greater depths than 100 or 120 feet; and therefore in seas deeper than this, the formation or growth of reefs over the bottom is impossible.” Has BeensFactsGrowsGrowthSimpleGreaterGrowingImpossibleSeaFeetOceanNegativeDepthBottomDeeperFormationReefsCoral Reefs Author:James Dwight Dana
“Some writers, rejecting the idea which science had reached, that reefs of rocks could be due in any way to "animalcules," have talked of electrical forces, the first and last appeal of ignorance.” WayFirstsIdeasLastsScienceForceRocksIgnoranceAccountsDuesIgnorantAppealsElectricalRejectingReefsFirsts And Lasts Book:Corals and Coral Islands Source: Corals and Coral Islands
“For nine miles along a submerged ridge, the corals rise in lumpy hillocks that spread out 100 yards or more, resembling heaped scoops of rainbow sherbet and Neapolitan ice cream. The mounds, some 100 feet tall, sprout delicate treelike gorgonians that sift currents for a plankton meal. Fish, worms and other creatures dart or crawl in every crevice. This description could apply to thousands of coral reefs in shallow, sun-streaked tropical waters from Australia to the Bahamas. But this is the Sula Ridge, 1,000 feet down in frigid darkness on the continental shelf 100 miles off Norway's coast.” WaterNatureDarknessSunFeetCreaturesFishesCurrentsSpreadMilesNineIceMealsDescriptionAustraliaTallDelicateRainbowCreamYardsShallowShelvesCoastWormsIce CreamTropicalSproutsReefsNorwayRidgesSubmergedContinentalFrigidCreviceBahamasCoral ReefsPlanktonSherbet Author:James Dwight Dana
